Argumentative Essay: “Gender Equality/Inequality” – 20 Topics to Research

Although most developed countries put considerable efforts into battling gender inequality, and humanity managed to achieve remarkable progress in this area over the last century or so, it still remains one of the most problematic issues modern society has to deal with. Unfortunately, most of the aforementioned progress has been only conspicuous in western societies, while in many developing countries there were no noticeable advances for a long time, sometimes, for centuries.

Even today, in the 21st century, barbarous practices like forced marriages and female genital mutilation are still rampant in Africa and the Middle East. So it is safe to assume that we have a very long way to go towards worldwide gender equality. Therefore, it is no wonder that students are so often assigned to write argumentative essays that deal with the topic – Gender Equality and Inequality. So what are they, these gender equality and inequality essay topics, and what ideas can be taken into consideration? Look at the detailed information below and start writing your own research paper on any topic from the list.

20 Gender Equality and Inequality Essay Topics

Gender equality and inequality is an incredibly broadly defined area of research. If you put a little bit of thought into it you can come up with any number of fascinating, creative and original topics for your opinion essay. Here you can see a few examples:

1.Does Gender Inequality Still Exist in the American Workplace?

Although American society recognizes gender equity as a primary value today, numerous women get lower salaries and face more challenges when attempting to occupy management positions. In 2021, American women earned $0.82 for every dollar men received, while the situation with salaries of Hispanic and Latina women was even worse. It’s an excellent topic to discuss and share your vision on solving this issue, isn’t it?

2. Gender Equality in Western Society: Achievements and Prospects

Western society gives women more rights and opportunities today compared to their possibilities a few centuries ago: they can work, wear anything they want, share household responsibilities with their partners, etc. However, gender discrimination remains a severe issue because females still face some restrictions and are expected to follow society’s requirements. An appropriate thesis statement for this essay will be: “Although women have gained numerous rights, such as the right to work, choose what they want to wear, make their careers instead of caring for children, and develop themselves in multiple spheres, they still receive lower salaries and face challenges when aiming to hold management positions, proving that society must focus on these aspects to overcome gender inequality.”

3. Does Gender Help or Hinder Women in the Workplace?

Particular society members believe that gender can help women get promoted and take less responsibility in the workplace. However, in fact, numerous females face sexual harassment and other kinds of abuse due to their gender. In this inequality essay, you may discuss whether being a woman is an advantage or disadvantage in the workplace and analyze why society should avoid focusing on gender when it comes to business.

4. Main Obstacles for Achieving Workplace Gender Equality in Modern Society

Companies face various challenges when struggling against gender inequalities: biases (men’s performance is frequently overestimated), females’ internal barriers (a lack of confidence to fight for their rights, a desire to be a good woman and meet others’ expectations), a lack of managers’ support, and work culture (sexism, employees’ and employers’ inability to recognize the importance of women’s equality). This topic is a unique opportunity to discuss all these factors and determine effective solutions to overcome gender disparities.

5. Roots of Gender Inequality and Their Expression in Today’s Society

Men have used their physical strength to demonstrate their dominance throughout the centuries. Patriarchy, inadequate social norms and traditions, and discrimination have caused gender inequality, which remains a critical issue even today. If society members realize the reasons for a problem, they can overcome this challenge – this topic will allow you to explore the roots of female inequality in detail.

6. The United States and Gender Equality: Where Do We Stand?

Today, the United States is the 43rd country among 146 states examined in terms of gender equality: the researchers have considered work, education, political leadership, and health to conduct this study. The US is one of the leading and most developed countries worldwide. Yet, we can see that effective measures in the field of gender equality are needed to overcome inequality between men and women.

7. Gender Equality in Science

Have you ever wondered why most scientists and researchers are men? Women face gender inequality in science because their scientific achievements and innovations are often underestimated; they face more difficulties when making careers in science and fight against prejudices to demonstrate their competence and the importance of their research.

8. State Enforcement of Gender Equality Laws: Is It Really Effective?

The increase in the equality between men and women results from governments’ impact on various spheres of society and the establishment of laws that encourage companies and organizations to provide males and females with the same opportunities. Although some people believe that state enforcement of gender equality laws is ineffective, progress in this field wouldn’t be possible without the authorities’ contribution. Still, the struggle against gender oppression on the state level must be scaled up to make it more effective. 

9. Gender Equality and Gender-Blindness: Differences and Common Features

Gender blindness is an inability to realize that men’s and women’s roles and responsibilities have been imposed on them in specific historical, social, and cultural contexts. Gender equality encourages providing all society members with the same rights and opportunities, while gender blindness avoids recognizing gender as a factor influencing people’s lives. This topic requires you to analyze why gender blindness can be harmful and why it differs from gender equality. 

10. Gender Equality: Are Women Still Being Held Back by Stereotypes?

Women around the world face stereotypes and prejudices even today: they are expected to be feminine, shy, modest, care for their families, cook, clean the houses, raise children, etc. Women are worse drivers, girls are more emotional, females cannot make careers in male spheres, women should be good mothers and focus on kids rather than careers – all these stereotypes continue adversely affecting females’ lives because they cannot understand what behavior is socially appropriate and meets society’s expectations.

11. Gender Disparity in Education and Workplace: Results and Future Goals

In developed countries, women and men have the same access to education and work. However, could you imagine that in Africa, 9 million girls between the ages of 6-11 cannot attend schools compared to 6 million boys? Gender disparity is more severe in underdeveloped countries, proving that future goals should include fighting for equality in all states worldwide. 

12. The Role of Gender Equality in the Upbringing of Children

Gender inequality at home remains a critical issue today: although women have received the right to work, many females must perform household duties without their partners’ support. In other words, women have gained the right to work, but society still expects them to care for their families and children simultaneously; men don’t face such requirements today. Only 32% of married fathers in the US are primary caregivers for their children, proving that mothers still are expected to take responsibility for this process. This discrimination essay encourages you to analyze whether this division is fair and equal and whether fathers can give up their careers to dedicate their time to their children.

13. Is True Gender Equality Achievable?

According to the UN’s recent report, humanity needs 286 years to achieve gender equality. This number may strike, but it proves true gender equality is achievable. Promoting gender equality in all spheres and countries and joining our efforts to establish equality in the fields we can influence will significantly speed up this process.

14. Gender Equality and Peace: Are They Connected?

Since men hold most leading positions, women’s needs are often not considered during decision-making processes. Active participation of all genders in all spheres can improve response to the needs of society, positively influencing society members’ satisfaction with their living conditions and opportunities. The development of a culture of peace may result from the creation of a gender egalitarian society that enables every member to achieve their goals and live in the way they want to live. 

15. Gender Equality and its Role in Economic Development

Women’s impact on various spheres’ development is underestimated: if all society members, despite their gender, join their efforts, they will achieve more significant results in all fields, including the economic sector. Women remain an underused resource, and including them in the workforce can be beneficial for gender equality and economic development. 

16. Gender Equality and Family Division of Labor

Household labor is unpaid and devalued but requires the same efforts as regular work. Women perform most household tasks today and don’t receive any salary for these duties, proving that guaranteeing women equal rights can result only from a fair family division of labor to provide both males and females with the same opportunities to work.

17. Gender Equality in Politics: What Does It Mean?

According to the UN report, women hold 22.8% of ministerial positions. It sounds unfair, doesn’t it? Gender equality in politics will be established when women represent 50% of leading roles, proving that the international community should recognize females’ competence and ability to rule the countries and world. Gender inequality in society can be overcome if the gender issue is solved in politics. 

18. What Does Gender Inequality Cost Us Economically?

Gender inequality costs the world economy $7 trillion per year. This fact proves that solving gender issues is beneficial not only for women individually but also for the world community. The inclusion of females in the workforce can help various companies and organizations achieve established goals more effectively and quickly, positively influencing overall economic development.

19. Gender Disparity in the World of Science: Why It Exists

Unequal access to education, household duties, unequal pay, and smaller research grants are the primary reasons for the gender inequality issue in science. It’s difficult to imagine what achievements and innovations we lose if women in today’s society lack opportunities to participate in scientific developments.

20. Gender Inequality in the Modern Family

Many modern parents still focus on various stereotypes when raising their children: they teach their daughters to cook and clean because they’re girls and require their sons to learn to paint or repair things because they are boys. This approach doesn’t consider children’s interests and hobbies, adversely affecting their ability to understand their desires. Moreover, gender inequality in the family is characterized by social expectations that the mother is responsible for all household chores. If people provide their children with knowledge about gender equality rather than their responsibilities based on their gender, we will have more happy individuals who participate in the activities they enjoy and achieve their goals depending on their desires and dreams, not their gender roles.

Nice topics, aren’t they? And the best part of it is that you don’t have to do any prolonged and tiresome research to come up with a similar idea on your own. Gender equality or inequality is a kind of topic that, to some extent, encompasses the entirety of the human experience. You may take a look at virtually any part of your life and be sure to find some food for thought. After proper consideration, it can be turned into a top-notch topic pertaining to this broad issue. So look into the following areas where gender inequality is possible.

Gender Inequality in Countries Worldwide

Gender inequality in the United States is striking and remains a severe issue even today. However, have you ever wondered what happens in other states, such as Afghanistan, Iran, and African countries? The situation is much worse there, proving that we still have a great deal of work to do to achieve equality in all spheres and all nations.

European countries and particular states in North America most successfully struggle for gender equality. If we take gender equality as 1, Iceland (0.91), Finland (0.86), Norway (0.85), New Zeland (0.84), and Sweden (0.82) have had the highest scores and offered the most gender-equal conditions compared to other countries in 2022. Still, the fact that no state has achieved gender equality even today really hurts. Just imagine that the same statistics show that Afghanistan (0.44), Pakistan (0.56), DR Congo (0.58), Iran (0.58), and Chad (0.58) have provided the least equal conditions in the same year.

What is gender equality in Iceland? The employment rate for women is 77.5%, and 47.6% of parliament representatives are women, while men and women equally take parental leave depending on their own decision. What is gender inequality in Afghanistan? Taliban’s rise to power has made women face numerous restrictions: all females have been excluded from public positions and the judiciary, they must follow strict rules when it comes to their clothing (wearing a mahram is mandatory), they are expected to stay at home and are not allowed to decide what they want to do; education and adequate working conditions are unachievable for women.

The roles and opportunities of women in society differ from country to country. Due to child marriage, numerous girls in underdeveloped countries lack access to education and work. For example, in Niger, 28% of girls under 15 and 76% of girls under 18 are already married, while in Chad, the share of married girls is 24% and 61%, respectively. Child marriage causes adolescent pregnancy and forces women to dedicate their lives to caring for children and parents, making them unable to get an education and focus on their own dreams.

Access to education is also a severe problem in numerous countries. In Mali, only 38% of girls attend primary school, while in South Sudan, only 25% of girls access primary education. In Niger, 17% of girls under 24 receive primary education. Patriarchal systems make women unable to make their own choices in these countries, proving that significant changes within the overall systems are needed to provide girls with their fundamental rights.

Undoubtedly, gender inequality causes injustice worldwide, making women fight for their rights throughout their lives. However, it has significantly worse consequences, such as child marriage, adolescent pregnancy, and a high child mortality rate in underdeveloped countries. People’s fundamental rights include education, equality, work, freedom of speech, and the capacity to make a choice. Society will flourish and reach the highest level of development only if all society members, regardless of their gender, exercise these rights.

Top 5 Areas Where Gender Inequality Is Possible

Every year, the rights of women in education, equal pay and fair treatment at work are well regarded worldwide – protests, movements, official declarations and so on. However, there are still some areas in which women are treated in a different way:

Workplace and Employment

Figuratively speaking, women run the world – they give birth and raise children, cook meals, give treatment, teach, take part in ensuring stability, but still, they go on feeling less equal in the workforce. It starts with offering employment them. As a rule, finding a well-paid job is much tougher for women than for men. Just look at the statistics!

For more details about the labor force participation rates for women and men in each separate country, click this source and include this information in your research paper. According to the International Labor Organization, 70% of women prefer to work in paid jobs regardless of their employment status. Among persistent challenges, there are gender roles, work-family balance, the lack of safe and accessible transportation and the lack of affordable care.

Despite the unequal pay, women face other obstacles in the path of successful working – sexual harassment, for example. According to an online survey, 81% of women experience some form of sexual harassment during their lifetime.

Race and ethnicity can also be an embarrassment for women to get equal earnings. For example, while Native American women have the lowest earnings at $31,000, Hispanic women get $28,000. There is a difference. So, investigate all the causes of gender inequality in the workplace and provide the best solutions to the problems.

Religion

One of the factors for gender discrimination is religion – many religious norms and traditions contribute to gender inequalities in modern society. Most religions maintain male social dominance. Also, religious norms and prejudices may reflect patriarchal values regarding every aspect of life. The voice of women is rarely heard and taken into consideration. Sometimes, it makes a woman carry the burden of victimization besides the burden of motherhood.

Most world religions agree on the respect for women and their crucial role in family life, but they do not, however, support the total equality with men. So this is a problem needed to be explored in details like it is done in the research paper “Religion and gender inequality: The status of women in the societies of world religions”.

Education

Today, more and more girls go to school freely, but was the situation the same several centuries ago? Despite all the progress, women and girls continue to face barriers based on gender to quality education. Let’s examine the statistics of Sub-Saharan Africa – 21% of children are out of school. Among this percentage, 23% of girls don’t go to school compared to 19% of boys. Certainly, this factor of gender inequality in education is underpinned with many other factors – high costs of education, living in rural areas, physical or mental impairment, etc.

Government

Women constitute 50% of the global population. Nevertheless, they continue to be underrepresented in decision-making processes at all governance levels. Some of the examples of gender inequality in the world include low-level or non-participation of women in the government of a country, state or region. Even if they get high positions, they do it with effort due to gender stereotypes – “You are a woman. A woman’s place is in the home”.

Today, the situation changes due to spreading democratic values. At the beginning of the 21st century, women were granted two most fundamental democratic rights: the right to vote and the right to stand for election. More and more women appear in the political arena from the last century – Margaret Thatcher, Hillary Clinton, Angela Merkel, Theresa May. All these names are familiar to everybody. What does a woman need to achieve most in government? It is a great essay question to research and answer.

Family

There are some gender differences in families. Signs of discrimination in a family are a lack of respect for a mother, unfair distribution of family budget, etc. In some families, a son inherits all the family fortune because it is he who carries forth the family name and is the sole provider. In some families, women can be victims of violence. And it is also a problem existing today in society.

Yes, gender inequality in the workplace, home, and family is slowly being eliminated, but there are still some issues needed to be highlighted and solved. It is important because these discriminatory practices place women at a distinct disadvantage – their ability to acquire wealth, enhance social standing, leave an oppressive work environment, or separate from an abusive relationship are reduced or limited by gender stereotypes.

Our essay writers recommend to watch the video where Frances McDormand is delivering a triumphant Oscars acceptance speech. In this speech, you’ll find some ideas on gender equality that plays a great role in creating this fair world.

And while the battle against gender inequality in the workplace is not a one-day event, this day is still a good opportunity to assess where we stand right now, what has changed from this time last year and previous years, and what we can improve. Your essay may take an economic, sociological, psychological, ethnographical, historical or, in fact, any other turn – you just have to use a little bit of imagination and creativity in defining your approach. After all, with this area of study being that popular, you are sure to find data for your research no matter what you choose.